Bilbao Airport

Foundation and early years

After various aeronautic experiments in the province of Biscay, in October 1927 steps were taken by the Union of Public Works to establish an airport in Bilbao. A provincial board was created to study the possible location of the airport. It was not until 1936 that the General Aeronautics Management authorised the installation of an airport in Sondika. However, due to the site's many deficiencies, the airport was not considered of interest. Bilbao is surrounded by mountains and a flat valley without significant population had to be found.^{[citation needed]}

The construction works commenced during the Civil War but during this time and until June 1937 the airport was only used as a base for military activities. In 1938, the second stage of the airport's development began. The council resumed procedures with the government to modify the primitive project of 1936 and the drafting of a new project was authorised and later approved by the General Management of Infrastructure.^{[citation needed]}

In 1940, it was decided by common agreement with the local organisations affected to build a civilian airport in Sondika. The construction works progressed slowly and on 19 September 1948, the airport was at last opened to daytime traffic with the establishment of an air path to Madrid by Aviación y Comercio, SA. Two years later, the terminal, named Carlos Haya after the well-known pilot from Bilbao, began to give service.^{[citation needed]} At this time, the airport had an asphalt runway, the 11/29 (measuring 1,440 by 45 m (4,724 by 148 ft)), another earth runway (measuring 1,500 by 150 m (4,921 by 492 ft)), a taxiway, a passenger terminal, a tower control, a radio beacon, a direction finder as well as police, post office, weather, health, fuel and telephone services. In 1955, a taxiway was built to link the runway with the parking stands and terminal. An apron measuring 124 by 60 m (407 by 197 ft), a hangar for the Royal Flying Club of Vizcaya and permanent facilities for Campsa were also built.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1964 and 1965, an instrumental ILS landing system and a meteorological radio for storm detection were installed; the runway was extended to 2,000 m (6,562 ft) and the apron to 12,000 m² (130,000 sq ft). In 1975, the runway was surfaced and its orientation became 10/28 due to the change in magnetic declination.^{[citation needed]} In 1977, the parking stand was extended, a link road was built and an ILS system was installed. The runway 12/30, measuring 2,600 m (8,530 ft) long, was opened the same year and the airport was classified as first category the following year. As a result of the population density of the area, approaching planes may have to fly over the extensive Derio cemetery.^{[citation needed]}

During the 1980s, the ILS landing system entered into service for runway 10/28; the communication centre, passenger terminal and parking facilities were enlarged; and a fire service building and cargo terminal were constructed.^{[citation needed]}

On 19 February 1985, an Iberia flight from Madrid crashed into Mount Oiz; all passengers and crew died.^[5]

Development since 1990

In 1996, a new taxiway with two rapid exits and a new aircraft parking apron were built. The works required the removal of tons of soil poisoned with lindane residues.^{[citation needed]} In May 1999, the new tower control was put into service, which allowed for a more centred vision of the airfield and at the same time facilitated airport operations. On 19 November 2000, a new terminal area was opened in the north zone, consisting of a new terminal building, with a surface area of 32,000 m² (340,000 sq ft), a car park with 3,000 parking spaces measuring 95,000 m² (1,020,000 sq ft) and a north apron for aircraft parking to serve the new terminal area.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2009, plans were announced to expand the terminal building, the facilities and the car parking so as to double the current capacity to 8 million passengers. The work was expected be finished in 2014 and cost €114 million but in 2010 the Spanish Government announced the project would be delayed by at least five years due to spending cuts and a decline in passenger numbers.^[6]

Top carriers

More information Rank, Carrier ...

Rank	Carrier	Passengers 2025	%	Passenger % change 2025
1	Vueling	3,311,685	46.8%	0.004%
2	Volotea	608,427	8.6%	3.29%
3	Lufthansa	590,231	8.3%	7.14%
4	Air Europa	529,084	7.5%	0.33%
5	Iberia	409,473	5.7%	4.09%
6	KLM	235,242	3.3%	6.82%
7	Easyjet	191,252	2.7%	8.45%
8	Wizzair	148,941	2.1%	118.78%
9	Air France	144,785	2.0%	14.95%
10	Eurowings	136,634	1.9%	32.63%
11	Air Nostrum	107,669	1.5%	16.35%
12	Aer Lingus	101,262	1.4%	30.91%
13	Turkish Airlines	94,248	1.3%	19.47%
14	Brussels Airlines	91,132	1.2%	9.22%
15	TAP Air Portugal	60,297	0.8%	7.64%
Source: Aena Statistics[1]

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Busiest routes

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Busiest European routes from BIO (2025)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 24 / 25
1	London-Gatwick	340,730	17.4%
2	Amsterdam	304,365	5.8%
3	Munich	295,806	4.1%
4	Frankfurt	294,614	10.4%
5	Paris-Charles de Gaulle	145,574	35.5%
6	Brussels	124,512	2.0%
7	Paris-Orly	122,482	255.9%
8	Rome-Fiumicino	106,482	146.4%
9	Lisbon	106,012	1.8%
10	Milan-Malpensa	105,868	39.6%
11	Istanbul	94,687	19.6%
12	London-Heathrow	86,562	new route
13	Dublin Airport	81.554	5.4%
14	Düsseldorf	79,889	17.7%
15	Porto	78,419	3.4%
16	Manchester	68,120	16.4%
17	Zurich	39,598	14.0%
18	Athens	39,439	8.9%
19	Prague	37,646	49.4%
20	Vienna	37,531	14.9%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[67]

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Busiest intercontinental routes from BIO (2025)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 24 / 25
1	Marrakesh	40,168	4.1%
2	Tangier	29,135	28.8%
3	New York-Newark	15,071	new route
4	Luxor	6,115	160.3%
5	Cairo	5,633	137.9%
6	Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen	4,789	new route
7	Sal	4,329	13.3%
8	Tinduf	545	84.7%
9	Algiers	530	25.5%
10	Jeddah	403	new route
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[67]

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More information Rank, Destination ...

Busiest domestic routes from BIO (2025)

Rank	Destination	Passengers	Change 24 / 25
1	Madrid	830,231	2.5%
2	Barcelona	686,705	1.1%
3	Málaga	354,688	1.0%
4	Seville	354,086	0.2%
5	Palma de Mallorca	312,857	0.03%
6	Tenerife-North	242,411	11.4%
7	Valencia	204,666	1.9%
8	Gran Canaria	203,717	9.6%
9	Alicante	177,407	11.7%
10	Lanzarote	125.176	0.05%
11	Menorca	93,063	15.8%
12	Ibiza	92,059	16.2%
13	Santiago de Compostela	63,639	19.5%
14	Fuerteventura	59,999	33,4%
15	Tenerife-South	35,252	0.6%
16	Granada	28,852	8.8%
17	Murcia	12,538	13.1%
18	Castellón	10,101	3.3%
19	Jerez de la Frontera	7,812	1.3%
20	Almería	4,437	75.6%
Source: Estadísticas de tráfico aereo[67]

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Bus

• BizkaiBus:
  • A bus line (A3247) connects Bilbao city center (Moyúa square) and the city bus station with the airport. Buses depart every 12 minutes during July and August, and every 15 minutes the rest of the year.^[68] The bus reaches the city center in 15 minutes.
  • A bus line (A2153) connects Bilbao city center (San Jose square) with Larrabetzu stopping at the airport. Buses depart every hour.^[69]
  • Starting in 2027, bus line (A3248) will connect Ansio metro station in Barakaldo with the airport via the Rontegi bridge. Buses will depart every 30 minutes.^[70]
• Lurraldebus:
  • DO04 bus line operated by Lurraldebus to Donostia-San Sebastián; its only stop is at Zarautz - adjacent to one of the town's two Euskotren stations (at the eastern end of the town). Buses depart every hour October to June, and every 30 minutes from the end of June to the end of September.
  • DG12 bus line operated by Lurraldebus to Mondragón with stops in Eibar and Bergara; the last daily service continues until Oñati. There are 6 buses departing from Bergara every day, and a single bus from Oñati.
• Autobuses La Unión:
  • Line A3720 connects Vitoria-Gasteiz city center with Bilbao airport, buses depart every 2 hours in the winter months, and every hour in the busier months, stopping at Vitoria bus station, Vitoria Airport and Bolueta metro station in Bilbao.^[71]

Metro extension

There is a project to extend the Bilbao Metro's Line 3 to the airport in the near future, but there is no official timetable yet.